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January 7, 2015 By Kimberly

Writing thank you notes is not as common today as it has been in the past. I wanted to teach my kids to recognize and be thankful for those things they receive or for the effort others put in on their behalf. One night we sat down and had a discussion.

We first talked about when we should write a thank you note. Being kids they of course said birthdays or christmas…pretty much anytime when they could receive a gift. Then we talked about other times when they didn’t receive an actual gift but someone put forth effort on their behalf. Did they get a ride home from school from a friend? Did a teacher give additional help with an assignment? Did someone at school tell you about the glove you just dropped that would have been lost?

They started to realize there are many things people do for us each day that we could write a thank you note for. But is saying thank you good enough or do you need to write a note? When teaching kids it is always good to flip roles. If they helped me out and I said thank you immediately how does that make them feel? If later they received a thank you note for that same act of kindness now how do they feel? We concluded that hearing thank you right away is always polite but by writing a note that person would feel even better. By writing thank you notes we also are making new or better friends. We all want to feel appreciated, especially when we are doing something nice for someone else. So, if we want to feel appreciated then we should write thank you notes. Treat others as we would like to be treated.

Thank you notes do not need to be written on a fancy card. Thank you notes do not need to be long. I created a printable to help them when writing thank you notes.

Some of the points I included are:

  • Why should you write? To show sincere thanks…
  • When should you write? Within a week, but better late then never.
  • Steps to a perfect note. Specific details are given how to open the letter, how to progress and how to close.
  • Additional things to remember from Emily Post such as how to write a note when you do not like the gift you received.

Writing thank you notes is something my children all need to learn and practice regularly. Each day we can think of someone to write a note to. Amazing isn’t it. After a while my children are looking at the world in a different way..in a better way.

Get the printable here – Writing Thank You Notes

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